Nothing is more detestable in GOD's sight than pride on the part of creatures who have absolutely nothing to be proud of.

"Word Pictures" for Our Imagination

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Wednesday, July 9th

Today's Daily Verse is found in Proverbs 11.2

"Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." - New Living Translation

Pride was the condemnation of the devil...

As he sought to exalt himself, he was cast out of heaven.

Ezekiel 28.

"Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the groundand exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.18 You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire out from within you, and it consumed you.I reduced you to ashes on the groundin the sight of all who were watching."

What causes pride?

Pride is caused by -

A lack of brokenness and self-judgment before GOD

What is "humility"?

Humility is within the individual who has learned to judge himself correctly in the presence of GOD

Nebuchadnezzar illustrates the process...

As
he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of
Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my
royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

Daniel 4.19-37

Daniel Explains the Dream

19 “Upon
hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a
time, frightened by the meaning of the dream. Then the king said to him,
‘Belteshazzar, don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means.’“Belteshazzar replied, ‘I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you! 20 The tree you saw was growing very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 21 It
had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild
animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. 22 That
tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your
greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth.

23 “‘Then
you saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying,
“Cut down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump and the roots in
the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by
tender grass. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him live
with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.”

24 “‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. 25 You
will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with
the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be
drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while
you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the
kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. 26 But
the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means
that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that
heaven rules.

27 “‘King
Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is
right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps
then you will continue to prosper.’

The Dream’s Fulfillment

28 “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As
he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of
Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my
royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

31 “While
these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven,
‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler
of this kingdom. 32 You
will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the
wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time
will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High
rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he
chooses.’

33 “That
same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven
from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with
the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as
eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

34 “After
this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity
returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one
who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal.

35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleasesamong the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’

36 “When
my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My
advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my
kingdom, with even greater honor than before.

37 “Now
I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All
his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

Pride is a "built-in", inherent problem with fallen mankind...

Mark 7.20-23

"And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.

21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

Genesis 3.7 " At
that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at
their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves."

Before they sinned against GOD...

Genesis 2.25 "Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame."

Examples we must learn from...

The Babel builders

Genesis 11.4

"Then
they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower
that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from
being scattered all over the world.”

Miriam

Numbers 12.2 "They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them."

v10 "As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her..."

Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26.16-21 "6 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord.
That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are
set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned.
The Lord God will not honor you for this!”

19 Uzziah,
who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was
standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead. 20 When
Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they
rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. 21 So
King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in
a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land."

Haman

Esther 5.11 "and boasted to them about
his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the
king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other
nobles and officials."

7.10 "So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided."

Herod

Acts 7.22-23 "The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”

23 Instantly,
an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted
the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was
consumed with worms and died."

The bottom line is...

Luke 18.14 " I
tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before
God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.”

Isaiah 2.17 "Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment"

Pride is giving ourselves the honor due only to GOD

Humility is knowing what GOD has done for us, that we could not, nor cannot do!

Let's Get Started....

See you tomorrow...

In the meantime:

May I encourage you to call or email someone and invite them to join us in our daily study in Proverbs...

Your call today, may be the lifeline they really need...make that call.